


Nothing's Wrong

by ToughAqua777



Category: Dragon Quest Series, Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Angst, Denial, Don't copy to another site, Dragon Quest XI Act I, Dragon Quest XI Act I Spoilers, Dragon Quest XI Spoilers, Gen, Hero | Luminary is Named Eleven | El (Dragon Quest XI), Horror, Night Terrors, Nightmares, One Shot, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Originally Posted on deviantART, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Spoilers, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 04:02:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19845166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToughAqua777/pseuds/ToughAqua777
Summary: Luminary? Please. He was just Eleven of Cobblestone, that's all.And nothing's wrong with that, right?No. Nothing's wrong at all.





	Nothing's Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> I seem to have a problem with making this poor guy suffer...

"Wakey wakey!"

Wh...who was that?

"Eleven, wake up!"

Eleven's eyes fluttered open somewhat reluctantly, trying to refocus his view in the bright daylight. He was sitting next to...a tree? Wait, that house over there...and the one over there...and that one right there! And those two people! And-- _and--!_

He was back in Cobblestone!?

"Ah, good. You're awake now!" That voice!

He quickly turned to his right, only to find his best friend Gemma next to him, eagerly smiling at him. She's _alive_. She's _here_. She's _okay_. She's--

His mind was running a mile a minute, and his expression must've shown such, considering Gemma's initial smile faded into a look of worry. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Eleven wasn't even sure where to start. But without thinking, he opened his mouth and words just came flying out. He frantically spoke about being the Luminary, about going to Heliodor, about what happened to her and Cobblestone, everything. By the time he finally managed to stop himself from rambling much further, he was surprised to hear a laugh from his dear friend. How and why was that funny? She-she _died!_ Everyone they knew _died!_

Once she managed to stop laughing, she finally spoke, "Eleven, what are you talking about? That never happened!"

Never happened? _What?_

When he tried to explain, she giggled and stopped him. "Silly, you must've been dreaming. I bet you're just anxious about the ceremony, right?"

The ceremony...of coming of age? Wait, he thought he already--

...Actually...

...What if it _was_ all a dream? What if he _wasn't_ the Luminary? What if Cobblestone _wasn't_ destroyed? What if he was...

_Normal?_

He...liked the sound of that, if he was to be honest.

Luminary? Please. He was just Eleven of Cobblestone, that's all.

And there's nothing wrong with that, right?

No. Nothing's wrong at all.

"Eleven, are you coming?" He got to his feet, noticing Gemma had begun to walk away. "We need t'go to Cobblestone Tor!"

He nodded, a newfound smile on his face, and went after her.

* * *

It was normal. Peaceful. _Perfect._

No monsters came to attack them. ~~Not like last time~~ Why would they? There were no monsters on the Tor.

Cole even gave the two a surprise from the bushes, though he ended up getting lectured by Gemma ~~again~~ about safety and had to bring Sandy with him back down the way they came.

But otherwise, the whole hike was uneventful.

The weather was clear, the Tor was safe, Gemma was here. Everything's _perfect._

Nothing's wrong.

Now here they were, at the top of the Tor, looking over the beautiful view from high above. Such a wonderful place. Heck, Eleven was considering coming back here from time-to-time just for the view. But for now, they simply recited the prayer and now were officially grown-ups.

Nothing's wrong with that.

He turned away from the view, proceeding to lead the way down.

But when he turned, Gemma was still looking outward, away from him.

"Eleven?" Gemma's uncharacteristically somber tone took him by surprise. "Can I ask you something?"

Something's wrong...?

Though every fiber of his body was telling him to run ~~because this wasn't real~~ for some reason, he allowed her to speak. It was getting cloudy rather quickly ~~just like before~~ and he didn't want to stand in the rain like this.

"Can I ask you why?"

Something's wrong.

While troubled, Eleven was more confused if anything. Why? Why what? Did he do something to anger her? Did he forget something? He could fix it, he could cheer her up, he--

"Why didn't you save me?"

Something's _very_ wrong.

Eleven's eyes widened slightly as he began to take a few steps back, rain starting to fall from the quickly darkening clouds. Save her? She's ~~not~~ fine, she's ~~not~~ safe, she's ~~dead~~ _alive._

"You an' I both know you're lying." It was right then and there that she turned around.

And Eleven gasped in horror.

Her eye were completely black, pitch-black, tears flowing from the new voids. Her mouth was gone, but he could still hear her sobbing, the hiccups echoing off unseen walls.

"Why d'you let me die, Eleven?!"

Something's _horribly_ wrong.

Out of nowhere, she dashed at him with ungodly speed, and with that, Eleven turned and ran for his ~~worthless~~ precious life. Yet, he could still hear her voice, echoing off the cave walls and in his own head as he increased the distance between them. "Why didn't you help me?! Help me, Eleven! HELP ME!"

By this point, Eleven was on the verge of tears. Why was this happening?! What happened to her?! Why was she doing this?! He-He needed to get back to town, maybe they had the answer!

By the time he managed to get to the bottom of the Tor, the previous sprinkle of rain was now a downpour, the wind was howling, and the clouds were a charcoal gray. Not that he cared, honestly; weather was the least of his conc--

Wait. Why did he smell ash in the wind?

Oh. _Oh_ _NO._

Something's _terribly_ wrong.

He didn't think he could run any faster than he already was, but he was certainly trying. ~~Cobblestone was being attacked by Heliodor~~ \--That never happened. He just needed to tell them what happened to Gemma ~~and how she died~~ \--she didn't die, stop thinking that!

Then the screaming. Why was there screaming? Why was it coming from--

 _Cobblestone._ _NO!_

In his hurry, he tripped and fell right on his face, wincing in pain. Yet as he tried to pull himself up onto his knees, he didn't look up. He didn't want to. He didn't want to see ~~how he failed~~ \--He didn't fail anything! Stop that!

But he looked up anyways ~~like an idiot~~ without thinking.

And all he could see beyond the pouring rain were giant flames. It was consuming the buildings, the trees, grass, everything.

 _Cobblestone_ was dying. _People_ were dying. _Everyone was dying._

And then the screaming.

 _"You_ did this to us!"

"You really _are_ the Darkspawn!"

"You didn't save us!"

"This is _your_ fault!"

"How could you?!"

"Murderer!"

"You _failure!"_

"Some Luminary you are!"

"Why didn't you help us?!"

 _"You_ let us die!"

"You _monster!"_

"ELEVEN!!!"

So many voices, so much screaming, so many of those he held dear dying. It's too much, _too much,_ _TOO MUCH!_

As the overwhelming pressure and ear-piercing voices filled his head, he shut his eyes and covered his ears in a futile attempt to shut everything out.

It only made them louder, clearer, even as he began to curl-in on himself.

Stop! Stop it! Please! No more! He never wanted this!

He never _asked_ to be the Luminary! He never _wanted_ to be the Luminary!

He just wanted a normal life!

He wanted everyone to live in peace!

He wanted Mum to live! He wanted Sandy to live! He wanted Gemma to live! He wanted _everyone_ to live!

He-- _he--HE--!_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Dead silence. No more rain, no more fire, no more screaming, no more life, no more of anything.

Just his sobbing as he remained in his position, not daring to open his eyes or uncover his ears.

**"Perish, Darkspawn."**

He barely had time to gasp before Hendrik and Jasper cut his life away.

_Everything is wrong._

* * *

The first thing anyone heard early morning was a scream. A scream so heart wrenching, one would think that someone just watched a loved one die.

No one expected it to be so close to them, even less so at their camp. Yet here they were, all awake except for one dear Luminary.

The young man was writhing in his sleep, flailing his arms and legs all around as if trying to fight something on top of him, tears held back in his eyes shut tight. And the screaming wouldn't stop.

Erik was the first to react, attempting to get closer despite Rab's protests, which only ended up with a swift punch in the face when he got close enough, falling to the ground. Serena was about to do the same, but Veronica and Rab had to talk her out of it for her own safety; didn't want her to end up like Erik as he was knocked back.

Sylvando was about to cast Cock-a-doodle-doo, but Eleven suddenly stood up and tried to run out of the camp, catching him off-guard. Jade had to dash forward and hold him back by the arms to make sure he wouldn't run out of the camp and away from the Goddess statue.

But he wouldn't stop screaming. He wouldn't wake up.

It was only when Sylvando was able to cast the spell did he quiet down.

As Eleven's eyes shot open, tears began to flow freely, his voice growing hoarse from his initial screaming. Even with the spell, he wasn't entirely out of his head, thrashing his limbs about in a attempt to break out of Jade's hold.

Erik had gotten up and, more cautiously this time, attempted to talk Eleven back down to reality as calmly as he could with Jade's assistance.

After about a minute of this, Eleven finally calmed down only to fall back asleep, going limp.

As Jade put him back down to a comfortable position, she, Rab, and Sylvando talked to the other three about how night terrors work, considering that Erik was about to wake him up again and Serena was panicking despite Veronica's reassurance.

Learning that Eleven wouldn't remember anything about what had happened wasn't all that reassuring, though.

Which is why no one told Eleven anything later that morning, even as he questioned why his throat was sore or why he felt tear streaks on his face.

He wondered if something went wrong overnight and he didn't remember.

But if everyone's okay now, then there's nothing wrong with that.

...Right?

**Author's Note:**

> How many people have the headcanon that our hero gets frequent nightmares? I'm one of them and I hate myself for it.  
> Constructive criticism is nice if you have any.  
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
